Aftermath of Destruction
by MaFan
Summary: Follows canon post Natalia's disappearance and return. Olivia hasn't come back to her yet.


**Aftermath of Destruction**

**Completed: 31-05-10**

**Title: Aftermath of Destruction  
Author: MaFan  
Rating: K  
Disclaimer:  
The characters present in the below story are the property of P&G, Telenext and CBS.  
I intend to make no profit from this story as it is for entertainment purposes only, but reviews are always welcome.  
Summary: Follows canon post Natalia's disappearance and return. Olivia hasn't come back to her yet.  
Author's Note: I am from Australia, so any knowledge I have of this show and the Otalia storyline was gained from months of YouTube research! If I make an error let me know I am all ears for any help or reviews. I always felt Natalia got off too lightly when she finally returned from her little retreat adventure. So this is a one shot to kind of give her a better idea of what actually went down with Olivia while she was gone. I hope you all enjoy.  
P.S. this story is all un-betad. So any errors are mine.  
**

**Aftermath of Destruction**

It had been a month since Natalia had returned to Springfield, and life was anything but what she had anticipated. Olivia was still keeping her at a distance and to Natalia it felt that with each day... that distance grew ever more. More vast, more painful... more impossible.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, Blake. I have tried everything I could think of to show her I love her but she won't budge! And I know she still loves me, why is she being so difficult?"

Blake and Natalia were sitting in Company having lunch together. Natalia had needed someone to talk to and Blake was the only person she could think of that would be receptive to the idea.

"Maybe you just need to give her more time. You were gone for weeks and a lot happened. Olivia might still be struggling with everything."

Blake knew that Natalia hadn't quite grasped the extent to which Olivia had plummeted after she left, and for the first time in her life, Blake was trying to be diplomatic. She didn't want to give too much away lest she hurt Olivia more, but it was also hurting her to see Natalia so lost.

"But that's what I don't understand. I want to help her! And she won't let me! She avoids me like the plague or if she does see me, she's cold and, absent. It's like the Olivia I fell in love with isn't there anymore."

Before Blake had a chance to reply, both women heard a familiar voice float over the back of the neighbouring booth.

"That, is because she isn't."

From the booth rose the head and blazer covered shoulders of Doris Wolfe. She turned to face the two women sitting behind her, her blue eyes cold as frozen steel boring into Natalia and sending a shiver down her spine.

"What are you talking about?"

Blake interrupted the staring competition, drawing Doris's gaze to her.

"I'm talking about Olivia. The Olivia that Natalia claims to have fallen in love with, she doesn't exist anymore. She died," pointing her finger accusingly at Natalia, "the day you walked out on her. The day, you left her."

"But I came back. I came back for her!" Natalia cried incredulously, "I just needed time; I needed to sort out everything in my head. I needed..."

"But what about what she needed?" Doris interjected loudly.

She had been sitting in her booth listening to Natalia's plight, and she could only take so much. This whole fiasco had, in its entirety, been about Natalia. Natalia's needs, Natalia's wants, Natalia's fears. Not once had Doris heard the Latina mention Olivia's needs and wants, or more importantly, her fears.

"Not once have you stopped to really think about Olivia in all of this!"

Natalia jumped to her feet as quickly as a six month pregnant woman is able, shouting angrily in Doris' face.

"What are you talking about? Olivia is **all** I have thought about! Everyday I was gone it was her I was thinking about. Every minute since I got back it has been Olivia I have been thinking about!"

The people sitting in and around Company stopped their conversation and turned their attentions to the two women arguing in the corner.

"Too little too late Natalia. You should have thought about Olivia before you left!"

Natalia opened her mouth argue but she was halted in her tracks.

"Don't interrupt me! You need to hear this! You have no idea what your leaving did to Olivia. NO idea!"

"I know I hurt her," Natalia began quietly but she was once again interrupted, this time by Doris' loud and mocking laugh.

"Hurt her? Hurt her! That hilarious! You did more than hurt her Natalia... you destroyed her." The hilarity in her voice had dissipated. Now her voice was sad and empty.

Natalia had a shocked look on her face. Company had gone quiet everyone staring openly at Natalia, wide eyed, honest looks on their faces.

The sad tone continued.

"She stopped Natalia. She didn't, no, couldn't work or function without you. Her only focus was you. Where you were, if you were safe, stopping you from hurting never mind the fact that she was in so much pain she could barely hold herself together."

Doris paused to gage Natalia's reaction o the truth. She was leaning against the wall, shaking her head in denial.

"Do you know she tried to find you?"

Natalia's eyes widened. No one had told her that little tid-bit of information.

"Yeah, I got her a list of every church retreat and monastery from here to Chicago and her and I got in her car and went searching for you. As we drove she told me just how wonderful you are. How much she loved you and that no matter what was wrong, you, and her, would be able to fix it, together. She just had to remind you of that."

Doris' voice was soft, almost a whisper. Just remembering that day, and the look on Olivia's face, was breaking Doris' heart all over again.

"But with every retreat that turned her away, the light or," she paused looking for the right word. "Essence that made Olivia 'Freakin' Spencer, died. Without going all poetic on you, it was like watching a wildfire be subdued."

The colour had drained from Natalia's face. Her hands were shaking and there were tears streaming silently down her face.

'_Doris is lying. She has to be!' _Natalia thought to herself. _'I couldn't have done that to Olivia. Not my Olivia.'_

"You know, I can even tell you the exact moment the fire went out."

Everyone stared at Doris. Most of the people in Company knew who she was talking about, knew the great Olivia 'Freakin' Spencer. Most had seen the woman in tatters in the last several weeks, and only now were most of them beginning to understand why.

"She stood in the middle of a retreat that had just turned her away, again. And she screamed to the heavens until she was hoarse, that she loved you, that what you had together was worthwhile, but most of all... she screamed your name. And over the top of the echoes bouncing around the courtyard, you could hear her heart breaking."

Doris had to stop. She could see flashes before her eyes of Olivia in the courtyard, and she could feel the tears she had tried to hold back then try and force themselves out now.

"After that, she wasn't the same. She drank, ALOT. She was scaring Emma so much that she had to send her away to stay with Ava. She became a shell, a robot, whose only fuel was alcohol. And Blake can attest to that."

Blake couldn't raise her own eyes from her hands, couldn't bare to look at the face of her friend. She could feel Natalia's eyes boring into the top of her head. All she could do was slowly and silently nod her head.

It was true.

All of it was true.

Blake could hear Natalia gasp and start whispering to herself.

"No. I didn't... Olivia I'm so sorry" over and over again.

Doris knew Natalia was finally starting to understand. To realise exactly what she had done to Olivia.

"What did you see?" Natalia had turned to Blake now. Her voice was hollow yet demanding, "Blake, tell me what you saw."

Blake sighed then slowly raised her head to face Natalia.

"I stopped by her room at the Beacon. The door was wide open and I could hear the shower running. She called me in and I found her sitting on the bathroom floor eating a packet of potato chips. I could smell the alcohol on her from the doorway. When I asked her what she was doing she just," Blake paused and took a big breath before continuing.

"All she could say was that I was the last person to see you, so I had to know if it was something she had done to send you away."

"She blamed herself?" Natalia asked dumbfounded.

"Of course she blamed herself! Who else could she blame?" Doris exploded incredulously

"All the issues that the two of you were facing had to do with the fact that you were together. The very day you're supposed to announce it to all of Springfield, you run out on her! AND to top it all off, " Doris was on a roll, "your ratbag of a son hounds on her at every possible opportunity, delighting in her pain and rubbing in the fact you left her."

"He what?" Natalia's voice had gone cold and low. She was mad. Livid even and everyone in Company winced at the thought of the serious trouble Rafe was sure to be in with his mother. Half the patrons were inclined to suggest he start running, just to give himself a chance to prepare for the thrashing that was so obviously coming his way.

"If you want the details you will have to ask Olivia, but I know he caused her, a lot of added heartache while you were gone."

Doris deflated. She'd said her piece, vented her anger, but only felt empty in the end. She had expected to feel lighter, like maybe Natalia's realization of the truth would bring her hope or ease her guilt.

It did neither.

Instead she had come to realise the insurmountable odds her friend now had to face to find her happiness.

"I'm sorry for eaves dropping, but I thought you should know the whole story. I thought you should understand the full impact of what you did. Maybe it will help find a more effective way of winning her back, because despite what she may be doing and saying to you now... she needs you."

With that, Doris picked up her handbag from the floor beneath her table and walked out of Company. Natalia slowly sunk down into her chair. The tears that had abated with her earlier rush of fury were once again streaming down her face like a waterfall. She was trembling and Blake could hear her quiet sniffles and sobs.

"What am I going to do Blake? How am I ever going to fix this?"

Blake sighed in her seat, staring out the window and said in an almost whisper,

"I don't know honey, I honestly don't know."


End file.
